Curbstone and stop

ABSTRACT

A curbstone in particular for a stop has a base body of a dimensionally stable material, on the upper side of which an attached part of an at least partly elastic material is fixed at least in sections. The attached part has a compressible section on at least one side; wherein the attached part, adjacent to the side with the compressible section, has at least one hollow chamber, the shape of which can be changed when the section is pressed together. As a result, the risk of damage to the bodywork is reduced by the attached part.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a curbstone, in particular for a stop,comprising a base body of a dimensionally stable material, on the upperside of which at least partially an attached part of an at least partlyelastic material is fixed, as well as a stop for buses or trains.

WO 2011/128270 A1 discloses a curbstone for a stop which is produced asan integral moulded body and has on a front side a first concavelycurved section and an inclined surface for the track steering of tiresof approaching buses. A second concavely curved section is providedabove the first concavely curved section which avoids damage to thebodywork of a bus when the latter approaches a stop and the bodywork isarranged particularly deeply. This curb-stone has proven itself andallows a good boarding situation. However, if the bodywork of a busnevertheless abuts against the surface of the second curved section,damage may occur.

DE 40 37 859 A1 discloses a curbstone in which an attached part isprovided which projects beyond the ordinary height of the curbstone. Theattached part can also be made of a shaped body made of an elasticmaterial. When a vehicle hits the attached part, damage may occurbecause the attached part is rigidly anchored and has slight elasticityonly through the material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide acurbstone, in particular for a stop, which avoids damage to parts of thebodywork even better.

This object is achieved with a curbstone according to the invention, inwhich a base body made of a dimensionally stable material, for examplecast concrete or natural stone, is provided, on the upper side of whichat least partially an attached part made of an at least partiallyelastic material is provided which has a compressible section on atleast one side. As a result, the attached part is compressible andelastic on the at least one side, so that damage can be avoided when apart of the bodywork hits this side. This optimally reduces thehorizontal and vertical distance between the stop and the vehicle accessto a minimum.

The compressible section of the attached part is preferably arrangedadjacent to a hollow chamber, the shape of which can be changed duringcompression. The elasticity is significantly increased by the hollowchamber, wherein the hollow chamber can optionally be filled with air ora very elastic material in order to enable compression, particularly inthe horizontal direction over a longer distance, in particular more than1 cm, preferably more than 2 cm, without damaging the attached part. Anelastic lip can be provided on the compressible section which, aftercompression, can be moved back into an initial position by restoringforces. In the vertical direction, the attached part can be designed tobe dimensionally stable in order to be able to use the upper side as atread surface.

In a further embodiment, the hollow chamber is designed so as to be opentowards the bottom of the base body. As a result, incoming moisture canflow downwards, and the hollow chamber can dry. A hollow chamber closedin the cross-section can also be formed in the attached part.

Preferably, the base body has a step on its upper side, wherein a higherregion faces the rear side and a lower region faces the front side. Onthis step, a contact surface of the attached part may be supported sothat the step prevents the attached part from being displaced relativeto the base body upon compression of the compressible section on a frontface. Instead of the formation of a step, an upwardly projecting web ora groove-shaped receptacle can also form a supporting surface on thebase body in order to prevent a displacement of the complete attachedpart.

The attached part is preferably essentially designed in a plate-shapedmanner and fixed on an upper side of the base body. The height of theattached part can be at least 3 cm, for example between 5 to 20 cm, inparticular between 5 and 10 cm. The attached part can be produced froman elastic rubber material or from a weather-resistant syntheticmaterial.

The attached part preferably has a non-slip profiling on its upper side,which can include knobs, grooves, ribs or other profilings. Theprofiling can also be designed in such a way that information for blindpeople is recognisable in a tactile manner.

The attached part can preferably have a projecting positioning means atleast on one end face which engages in a recess on an end face of aneighbouring attached part. As a result, a step formation duringdeformation can be prevented at a transition point of the two adjacentattached parts, in particular if the positioning means is positivelyreceived in the recess.

The attached part is preferably interchangeably connected to the basebody. In the event of damage to the attached part, it can thus bereplaced without having to replace the entire curbstone. For thispurpose, the attached part and the base body can be connected, forexample, by screws or other fastening systems such as rails ortongue-and-groove connections, in particular by screws, wherein anchorsleeves are preferably provided in the base body for the screws.

The curbstone is preferably used at a stop for buses or trains, whereinan inclined surface for the track steering of a tire can be provided onthe base body on a front side. As a result, a distance between an upperside of the attached part and a tread surface in a bus or train can beoptimally adjusted.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to anexemplary embodiment shown in the attached drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a curbstone according to theinvention, and

FIG. 2 shows a side view of the curbstone of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

FIGS. 1 and 2 show a curbstone which has a base body 2 made of adimensionally stable material, in particular concrete or natural stone,and an attached part 3 made of an elastic material, in particular of arubber material. The curbstone 1 can be installed at a stop for buses ortrains, with a “front” facing the road in the installation situation,and an upper side 13 on the attached part 3 forming a tread surface forthe passengers.

The base body 2 comprises a lower section, which has a substantiallyvertical front side 4, which is installed below a roadway. Above thefront side 4, a substantially horizontal surface 15 is formed, ontowhich a tire of a vehicle can travel in order to access the stop. Thehorizontal section 5 opens into a concavely curved section 6, whichconverges into a surface 7 inclined to the vertical, which has a tracksteering function for approaching tires, so that a bus driver canapproach the stop as precisely as possible. The inclined surface 7converges into a convexly curved section 8, which is adjoined by afurther concavely curved or oblique surface 9 extending upwardly.

An upper side of the base body 2 comprises a first horizontal surface 14which is formed lower than a second horizontal surface 15 which isarranged higher, wherein a step 16 is provided in a middle regionbetween the horizontal surface 14 and the horizontal surface 15.

On the two horizontal surfaces 14 and 15, an attached part 3 issupported, which rests with a supporting surface on the step 16 and isthus secured against displacement toward the rear side.

On its front side, the attached part 3 has a section which can bepressed in the horizontal direction and which comprises an elastic lip11. The elastic lip 11 is arranged adjacent to a hollow chamber 12,which is changed with respect to its shape during the movement of theelastic lip 11 and thus allows a relatively smooth-running movement ofthe lip 11. The lip 11 is supported in the lower region on the flatsurface 14 of the base body 2 and can thus be pivoted substantially inthe horizontal direction if a part of the bodywork is pressed againstthe front side 10 of the attached part 3 so as to avoid damage. Thehollow chamber 12 has a trapezoidal shape which is open downwards, sothat entering moisture can flow outwards under the lip 11 and dry out.

The attached part 3 is interchangeably fixed on the upper side of thebase body 2. For this purpose, several anchor sleeves 21 are fixed inthe base body 2, into which screws 20 can be screwed in order to clampthe attached part 3 to the base body 2. The screws 20 are inserted intoopenings 19 on the attached part 3, which can also be covered or closedafter screwing in the screws 20. A rear side 18 of the attached part 3essentially terminates flush with a rear face 17 of the base body 2 sothat a walkway or a surface of the stop can then be provided on the rearside.

The surface 13 of the attached part 3 can be slightly inclined towardsthe front side in order to discharge rainwater substantially towards theroadway. Furthermore, non-slip profilings or marks can be provided onthe upper side 13, for example in the form of ribs, grooves, knobs orother structurings.

On the base body 2, two extensions 3 are mounted one behind the other inthe longitudinal direction. It is also possible to provide only a singleattached part 3 on the base body, which has the same length as the basebody. In addition, attached parts with greater length than the base body2 can be mounted. An overlapping arrangement has the advantage that agap between adjacent base bodies can be covered by an attached part 3.

In the illustrated exemplary embodiment, the attached part 3 has onlyone single hollow chamber 12 adjacent to the front side 10. It is ofcourse also possible to provide a plurality of hollow chambers 12, whichare arranged above one another or next to each other in order toincrease elasticity. In addition, it is possible to design the hollowchambers 12 elastically, but to fill them with an elastic material, forexample a foam material. Such an embodiment also makes it possible toproduce a “compressible section” on a front side. A hollow chamberfilled with soft material is also to be regarded as a “hollow chamber”within the meaning of the application. The hollow chamber can also havea closed cross-section.

The attached part 3 can consist of an integral or differently flexiblematerial. For example, the back-side region may consist of a hardermaterial than the compressible section on the front side.

The end faces of the attached part 3 and of the base body 2 are formedin a flat manner in the illustrated exemplary embodiment and extend inthe vertical direction. It is also possible for the attached part 3 tohave a protruding positioning element on at least one end face, forexample a pin, a web or a projection, which engages in a recess on anend face of an adjacent attached part 3, in particular in a form-fittingor force-locked manner. Each attached part 3 can have a projection onone side and a recess for accommodating such a projection on theopposite side, for example in the form of a tongue-and-grooveconnection. As a result, during the deformation of the compressiblesection of an attached part 3, it is possible to also simultaneouslydeform the compressible section of an adjoining attached part 3 by meansof the positioning element in order to avoid finding any step in atransition between the adjoining attached parts which could causedamage. The shape of the positioning element and the position can bechosen according to the mechanical requirements.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMERALS

1 Curbstone

2 Base body

3 Attached part

4 Front side

5 Section

6 Section

7 Surface

8 Section

9 Inclined surface

10 Front side

11 Lip

12 Hollow chamber

13 Surface

14 Surface

15 Surface

16 Step

17 Rear side

18 Rear side

19 Opening

20 Screw

21 Anchor sleeve

What is claimed is:
 1. A curbstone comprising: a base body (2) of adimensionally stable material, and an attached part attached at least insections on an upper side of the base body, the attached part being ofan at least partly elastic material, wherein the attached part comprisesa compressible section on at least one side; and wherein the attachedpart, adjacent to the side with the compressible section, has at leastone hollow chamber, the shape of which hollow chamber can be changedwhen the compressible section is pressed together.
 2. The curbstoneaccording to claim 1, wherein an elastic lip is provided on thecompressible section.
 3. The curbstone according to claim 1, wherein thehollow chamber is designed so as to be open towards the base body. 4.The curbstone according to claim 1, wherein the at least one hollowchamber is formed in a closed manner in the attached part.
 5. Thecurbstone according to claim 1, wherein the base body has a step on itsupper side and a higher region faces the rear side and a lower regionfaces the front side.
 6. The curbstone according to claim 5, wherein acontact surface, which is supported on the step, is formed on theattached part.
 7. The curbstone according to claim 1, wherein theattached part is formed in an essentially plate-shaped manner and theheight of the attached part is at least 3 cm.
 8. The curbstone accordingto claim 1, wherein the attached part is made of a rubber material orplastic.
 9. The curbstone according to claim 1, wherein the attachedpart has an anti-slip profiling on its upper side.
 10. The curbstoneaccording to claim 1, wherein the base body has on a front side aninclined surface for a track steering of a tire.
 11. The curbstoneaccording to claim 1, wherein the attached part is inter-changeablyfixed to the base body by screws, rails or tongue-and-groove joints. 12.A curbstone according to claim 1, wherein the attached part has, on atleast one end face, a projecting positioning element which is configuredto engage in a recess on an end face of an adjacent attached part.
 13. Astop for buses or trains, comprising at least one curbstone according toclaim
 1. 14. The curbstone according to claim 7, wherein the height ofthe attached part is between 5 and 20 cm.